Singaporean Mother Injured at Woodlands Checkpoint after Falling from Moving Bus
Some of the most alarming incidents at checkpoints are not those such as power outages, bus delays, or even the closure of counters for upgrades.
Rather, it is when you find yourself in a precarious situation, such as having your arm stuck in a bus door while the driver is oblivious and ready to drive off.
What? Does that really happen?
This exact scenario unfolded for a 43-year-old Singaporean woman, Chen Yiheng (a transliteration from Chinese), while she was returning to Singapore with her 10-year-old daughter.
The incident occurred following their trip from Johor Bahru on 12 Dec, aboard a Transtar bus.
Transtar, founded in 1994, is a Singapore-incorporated company that specialises in coach travel and tours.
The First Unpleasant Event
Chen recounted that they had purchased their tickets online and boarded the bus at the JB Sentral bus terminal in Johor Bahru during the evening.
Naturally, passengers are expected to place their luggage in the bus’s storage before setting off.
Chen intended to store her luggage and then let her daughter show their electronic ticket to the driver.
However, an unexpected altercation occurred when the bus driver started shouting at her daughter.
Chen attempted to clarify the situation to the driver, only to be met with more yelling, an experience she later described as quite startling in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao.
Following the argument, the driver refused to open the luggage compartment, forcing Chen to bring her 26-inch luggage onto the bus.
The Second Life-Threatening Event
Around 7:25 PM, passengers were dropped off at the Woodlands Checkpoint.
Carrying luggage, Chen allowed others to disembark first, leaving her to exit last.
However, as she was alighting with her luggage, the driver prematurely closed the door, trapping her right arm.
Panicked, she dropped her luggage in an attempt to free herself.
But the situation worsened as the driver began to drive.
What would happen in such a scenario?
The options were grim – either being dragged along by the bus or falling off.
In this case, the driver, seemingly “unaware”, continued driving, resulting in Chen falling off the bus and landing on her left arm and shoulder.
Her daughter, witnessing the ordeal, was horrified and cried as she ran ahead to stop the bus.
Chen, in pain, confronted the driver about his negligence.
However, the driver avoided responsibility, merely commenting that it was not his problem and shaking off his responsibilities.
Passersby came to Chen’s aid as she was unable to walk due to her injuries.
Police were called to the scene and subsequently transported her to the hospital.
The police confirmed receiving a related report at 7:30 PM, and the case remains under investigation.
Chen also mentioned in a Facebook post on Complaint Singapore that she had attempted to contact representatives from Grantal Mall and Resort World ticketing, particularly after informing Resort World ticketing about her hospitalisation due to the incident with their bus.
Her calls, however, went unanswered.
Interestingly, this was not the first time Chen had encountered such an incident with the same driver.
She recalled a similar situation on 23 Oct, where two Malaysian women were still retrieving their luggage from underneath the bus when it began to move.
At that time, Chen and her daughter, who were witnesses, had asked the driver to stop, giving him the benefit of the doubt that he might not have seen the passengers.